Perth’s Mount Hospital looks set to come under the ownership of what is expected to become Australia’s largest not-for-profit private hospital operator.
Receivers were brought in last year when Healthscope, which owns Mount Hospital and 36 other private hospitals across the country, went into receivership.
McGrathNicol Restructuring this month announced a plan to create a new not-for-profit organisation to operate 31 of the hospitals, sell five and transfer operations of another to the New South Wales state government.
“The plan offers an opportunity for all hospitals to avoid closure, providing continuity of care and job certainty for over 18,000 hospital workers,” a statement from Healthscope said.
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The provider confirmed all hospital employees transitioning to the new organisation would keep their jobs with existing terms and conditions.
The Australian Charities and Not-For-Profit Commission approved an application to register not-for-profit entities associated with the plan as charities in October 2025 and related regulatory applications to support the new organisation are now in progress.
The plan is understood to include the appointment of independent directors over the coming months to oversee the establishment of the new organisation and to provide ongoing clinical and purpose-focused governance.
It is expected that the new not-for-profit organisation will be operational by mid 2026.
Healthscope chief executive officer Tino La Spina said the new structure would allow surpluses to be reinvested back into hospitals and people to continually improve patient care.
The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) chief executive Brett Heffernan welcomed the decision to keep much of the Healthscope group of hospitals intact.
“Anything that guarantees Healthscope’s full suite of hospitals continue treating and caring for patients, while ensuring stability for the dedicated professional staff at those hospitals, comes as much-needed relief for the Australian healthcare system,” he said.
“Alternative scenarios would have seen some hospitals cherry-picked, while many hospitals would likely have closed.
“That would have been a disaster for the patients relying on those facilities, the staff whose jobs were at risk, and an already over-stretched public hospital system,” Mr Heffernan said.
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